Big money! High-end AirPods Studio said to cost $599, launch in November with Apple silicon Mac.

Airpods Studio Render (Image credit: Jon Prosser)

What you need to know

Previously leaked AirPods Studio are the "luxury" variant.
They'll reportedly retail for a cool $599.
A Sport version will reportedly sell for around $350.

Apple's rumored and oft-leaked AirPods Studio might cost considerably more than we'd expected, assuming leaker Jon Prosser is on the money. Geddit? Money?

Now I've softened you up with the comedy, here's the whammy – AirPods Studio, as we've seen them in recent leaks, will cost $599.

Five-hundred-and-ninety-nine of your finest American dollars.

But there might be a ray of sunshine in all of this. Prosser says that the AirPods Studio we've seen are the "luxury" model, suggesting there will be a cheaper Sport variant at some point in the future. Don't expect that to be cheap, though – Prosser has a price of around $350 for those.

AirPods Studio 🎧

The renders that I shared last month seem to be the luxury variant — made of leather/metal.

I’m being told they’ll retail for.... $599 😳

There will be another sport-like variant made of cheaper materials for $350.

They WILL NOT be at the October 13 event. https://t.co/awunRlGrD4 pic.twitter.com/le2cfmlC9PAirPods Studio 🎧

The renders that I shared last month seem to be the luxury variant — made of leather/metal.

I’m being told they’ll retail for.... $599 😳

There will be another sport-like variant made of cheaper materials for $350.

They WILL NOT be at the October 13 event. https://t.co/awunRlGrD4 pic.twitter.com/le2cfmlC9P— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) October 9, 2020 October 9, 2020

As for timescales, we're told that AirPods Studio won't make the October 13 event and will instead debut during a November event – alongside the first Apple silicon Macs. That November event hasn't been announced yet, but with Apple already saying that the first Apple silicon products will ship before year's end, and an event in December being unlikely, November fits. It's also the window Prosser has previously suggested for the first Apple silicon Macs, too.

NovemberNovember— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) September 23, 2020 September 23, 2020

So, there we have it. If you're planning on picking up AirPods Studio and want the best version available, you're going to be spending big. Me? I'll be waiting to see what AirPods Studio Sport look like!

Apple's iPhone 12 event will of course be fighting for attention with Amazon's two day Prime Day event, which also kicks off on October 13.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.